New SafeNet Smart Card Designed to Meet HSPD-12 Compliance Mandates; Smart Card 400 leverages company's heritage in encryption technology

Business Wire, June 29, 2006

BALTIMORE -- SafeNet, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFNT), setting the standard for information security, today announced the availability of the Borderless Security Smart Card 400, a critical component to the Company's HSPD-12 solution. This new technology builds upon SafeNet's past expertise in providing smart card solutions for physical and logical access to the government agencies and securing transactions between worldwide financial institutions. The core components for a HSPD-12 solution include smart cards, PKI, biometrics, middleware, a card credential management system and a physical access system.

The Smart Card 400 is designed with the latest industry standard security features for compliance with FIPS 201, FIPS 140-2 Level 3, and Common Criteria EAL4 , enabling the world's leading government agencies to implement a complete HSPD-12 compliant security solution.

SafeNet smart cards are supported by hundreds of applications and contain optional FIPS validated match-on-card biometric authentication support for three-factor authentication. Surpassing the storage requirements of the HSPD-12 mandate, the SafeNet Smart Card 400 will allow an agency to leverage their investment and integrate future technologies, such as SafeNet's disk encryption (data at rest). Continuing in SafeNet's tradition of developing to the latest security technology standards, the Smart Card 400 also implements the new Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm.

"SafeNet views HSPD-12 as a part of a larger Identity Management infrastructure implementation. We're fortunate to have years of experience providing information security solutions within the government, financial and other regulatory driven markets. We will leverage this expertise to solve the core challenges government agencies are facing with HSPD-12," said Phil Saunders, vice president, Borderless Security Business Unit, SafeNet Inc. "SafeNet announced the creation of and its membership in the HSPD-12 Interoperability Consortium to reinforce our dedication to the government's HSPD-12 community. We are pleased to announce our new products and integrate them with the solutions of other Consortium members."

SafeNet's HSPD-12 Solution is part of the Company's Borderless Security offering which combines the core identity and transaction security components vital to a compliant solution with data protection, access control, and network communications capabilities to provide true end-to-end security. SafeNet's Borderless Security provides flexibility, regardless of location, to employees, customers, suppliers and partners to work effectively, sharing information securely without constraint. The products combine authentication, authorization, and confidentiality, integrated with robust management, into an easily deployed and easily managed solution that minimizes the challenges associated with perimeter-based solutions and security point products from multiple vendors. The offering includes smart cards, USB tokens, client software, application protection server appliances, and management components integrated in easy-to-deploy packages.

HSPD-12 Mandate

On August 27, 2004, in response to the general threat of unauthorized access to physical facilities and logical IT assets, the White House issued Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD)-12. The primary objectives of HSPD-12 are the development and deployment of a Federal Government-wide common and reliable identification verification system that will be interoperable between all Government agencies and serve as the basis for reciprocity between those agencies.

HSPD-12 mandates that all Federal Employees and Contractors need to use a smartcard for both to IT resources. The mandate is divided up into two parts called Personal Identity Verification parts 1 & 2 (i.e. PIV 1 / PIV 2). PIV 1 established a methodology across the Federal Agencies to properly vet a person's ID. It includes fingerprint checking with the FBI and mandatory background checks for all Federal Employees and contractors. It establishes a baseline that all agencies need to follow to ensure their employees are who they say they are. PIV 2 takes newly established identities and binds them cryptographically to a smartcard.

SafeNet's HSPD-12 Solution and Beyond

Building on our heritage in encryption technology, SafeNet is also able to provide technologies that protect and manage data-at-rest, data-in-motion and user identities. Working together, these technologies provide assurance of a secured environment. SafeNet's integrated product line enables customers to utilize technology already in place while leveraging their investment for the future. Our solutions combine core identity security components with data protection, access control and network communication capabilities.

Borderless Security Smart Card 400

Identity management and data protection require that you know who is accessing your facilities and systems. SafeNet's smart cards achieve this by containing personal authentication digital certificates for each user. Validated for FIPS 201 and FIPS 140-2 with Level 3-validated security, our smart cards are supported by hundreds of applications and contain optional match-on-card biometric authentication support for three-factor authentication.